almost opening night...

I'm sitting here going over my prep list for opening night. I give it far more thought than I used to in the first few seasons, but I've learned a few things the hard way in years' past. I've learned over the years to carefully watch the weather and be prepared for any contingency. The weather this year looks favorable, maybe a bit on the cool side, so nylon pants, my crew sweatshirt and jacket need be present. I always pack extra socks, shirts and at least 2 pairs of shoes, as well as rain shoes, and extra gloves. The older I get, the less tolerant i am of the cold (until I get used to it) and wet feet (I never get used to that). At the ballpark out favorite topic is usually the weather, and we watch the Weather Channel ad nauseum. Opening night is always exciting, but there is too much hoopla before the game. things are much better once things get under way. As in past years, the road hasn't been to kind to the team thus far. Hopefully they can salvage a win or 2 before Thursday. The other thing about opening night that I love and hate is seeing the field. Its pristine right now, but it will never look better than it does on opening night until next opening night. It's all downhill from here, much as Tim and Newt (and the rest of us part-timers to aa lesser extent) try. It will always look good throughout the year, due to their skill, just not as good as that first night. I can't remember if I mentioned my other cowoirkers in my first post, but they are Frank Raudensky and Doug Husted, as well as my son Alan, plus a few others that come and go. Frank used to be a the visiting clubhouse manager, but the hours got to be too long and came to the grounds crew a few years ago. Doug was an usher and gate attendant for a few years, left, and came back a few years ago also. He is retired, but works for Susquehanna Twp. taking care of their athletic fields from spring to fall. Frank is a licensed electrician. Alan is an H/R specialist. We all do this strictly part-time, but spend a lot of time on City Island for 6 or 7 months out of the year. I have the most seniority on the crew, but am younger than Frank and Doug. We're all over the age of 50, so we joke about being Tim's "senior crew". The other odd thing is we all hurt our left shoulder in the off-season (doing non-work related things) and Alan hurt his in college, so we all refer to each other as "Lefty". My other baseball related activity I'm working on is a template for the Senators' "H" logo that we can use on each side of the mound like some of the big league clubs do. Other than that, I'm just biding my time until Thursday evening when I step ontothe field for the 14th year. I'll check in again Friday morning.